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<h1>Penlight</h1>

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<h2>Libraries</h2>
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  <li><a href="../libraries/pl.html">pl</a></li>
  <li><strong>pl.app</strong></li>
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<h1>Module <code>pl.app</code></h1>
<p>Application support functions.</p>
<p> See <a href="../manual/01-introduction.md.html#Application_Support">the Guide</a></p>

<p> Dependencies: <a href="../libraries/pl.utils.html#">pl.utils</a>, <a href="../libraries/pl.path.html#">pl.path</a></p>


<h2><a href="#Functions">Functions</a></h2>
<table class="function_list">
	<tr>
	<td class="name" nowrap><a href="#script_name">script_name ()</a></td>
	<td class="summary">return the name of the current script running.</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
	<td class="name" nowrap><a href="#require_here">require_here (base)</a></td>
	<td class="summary">add the current script's path to the Lua module path.</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
	<td class="name" nowrap><a href="#appfile">appfile (file)</a></td>
	<td class="summary">return a suitable path for files private to this application.</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
	<td class="name" nowrap><a href="#platform">platform ()</a></td>
	<td class="summary">return string indicating operating system.</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
	<td class="name" nowrap><a href="#lua">lua ()</a></td>
	<td class="summary">return the full command-line used to invoke this script.</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
	<td class="name" nowrap><a href="#parse_args">parse_args (args, flags_with_values, flags_valid)</a></td>
	<td class="summary">parse command-line arguments into flags and parameters.</td>
	</tr>
</table>

<br/>
<br/>


    <h2 class="section-header "><a name="Functions"></a>Functions</h2>

    <dl class="function">
    <dt>
    <a name = "script_name"></a>
    <strong>script_name ()</strong>
    </dt>
    <dd>
    return the name of the current script running.
 The name will be the name as passed on the command line



    <h3>Returns:</h3>
    <ol>

        string filename
    </ol>




</dd>
    <dt>
    <a name = "require_here"></a>
    <strong>require_here (base)</strong>
    </dt>
    <dd>
    add the current script's path to the Lua module path.
 Applies to both the source and the binary module paths. It makes it easy for
 the main file of a multi-file program to access its modules in the same directory.
 <code>base</code> allows these modules to be put in a specified subdirectory, to allow for
 cleaner deployment and resolve potential conflicts between a script name and its
 library directory.


    <h3>Parameters:</h3>
    <ul>
        <li><span class="parameter">base</span>
            <span class="types"><a class="type" href="https://www.lua.org/manual/5.1/manual.html#5.4">string</a></span>
         optional base directory.
        </li>
    </ul>

    <h3>Returns:</h3>
    <ol>

           <span class="types"><a class="type" href="https://www.lua.org/manual/5.1/manual.html#5.4">string</a></span>
        the current script's path with a trailing slash
    </ol>




</dd>
    <dt>
    <a name = "appfile"></a>
    <strong>appfile (file)</strong>
    </dt>
    <dd>
    return a suitable path for files private to this application.
 These will look like '~/.SNAME/file', with '~' as with expanduser and
 SNAME is the name of the script without .lua extension.
 If the directory does not exist, it will be created.


    <h3>Parameters:</h3>
    <ul>
        <li><span class="parameter">file</span>
            <span class="types"><a class="type" href="https://www.lua.org/manual/5.1/manual.html#5.4">string</a></span>
         a filename (w/out path)
        </li>
    </ul>

    <h3>Returns:</h3>
    <ol>
        <li>
        a full pathname, or nil</li>
        <li>
        cannot create directory error</li>
    </ol>



    <h3>Usage:</h3>
    <ul>
        <pre class="example"><span class="comment">-- when run from a script called 'testapp' (on Windows):
</span><span class="keyword">local</span> app = <span class="global">require</span> <span class="string">'pl.app'</span>
<span class="global">print</span>(app.appfile <span class="string">'test.txt'</span>)
<span class="comment">-- C:\Documents and Settings\steve\.testapp\test.txt</span></pre>
    </ul>

</dd>
    <dt>
    <a name = "platform"></a>
    <strong>platform ()</strong>
    </dt>
    <dd>
    return string indicating operating system.



    <h3>Returns:</h3>
    <ol>

        'Windows','OSX' or whatever uname returns (e.g. 'Linux')
    </ol>




</dd>
    <dt>
    <a name = "lua"></a>
    <strong>lua ()</strong>
    </dt>
    <dd>
    return the full command-line used to invoke this script.
 It will not include the scriptname itself, see <a href="../libraries/pl.app.html#script_name">app.script_name</a>.



    <h3>Returns:</h3>
    <ol>
        <li>
        command-line</li>
        <li>
        name of Lua program used</li>
    </ol>



    <h3>Usage:</h3>
    <ul>
        <pre class="example"><span class="comment">-- execute:  lua -lluacov -e 'print(_VERSION)' myscript.lua
</span>
<span class="comment">-- myscript.lua
</span><span class="global">print</span>(<span class="global">require</span>(<span class="string">"pl.app"</span>).lua()))  <span class="comment">--&gt; lua -lluacov -e 'print(_VERSION)'</span></pre>
    </ul>

</dd>
    <dt>
    <a name = "parse_args"></a>
    <strong>parse_args (args, flags_with_values, flags_valid)</strong>
    </dt>
    <dd>
    parse command-line arguments into flags and parameters.
 Understands GNU-style command-line flags; short (<code>-f</code>) and long (<code>--flag</code>).</p>

<p> These may be given a value with either '=' or ':' (<code>-k:2</code>,<code>--alpha=3.2</code>,<code>-n2</code>),
 a number value can be given without a space. If the flag is marked
 as having a value, then a space-separated value is also accepted (<code>-i hello</code>),
 see the <code>flags_with_values</code> argument).</p>

<p> Multiple short args can be combined like so: ( <code>-abcd</code>).</p>

<p> When specifying the <code>flags_valid</code> parameter, its contents can also contain
 aliasses, to convert short/long flags to the same output name. See the
 example below.</p>

<p> Note: if a flag is repeated, the last value wins.


    <h3>Parameters:</h3>
    <ul>
        <li><span class="parameter">args</span>
            <span class="types"><a class="type" href="https://www.lua.org/manual/5.1/manual.html#5.4">{string}</a></span>
         an array of strings (default is the global <code>arg</code>)
        </li>
        <li><span class="parameter">flags_with_values</span>
            <span class="types"><span class="type">tab</span></span>
         any flags that take values, either list or hash
 table e.g. <code>{ out=true }</code> or <code>{ &quot;out&quot; }</code>.
        </li>
        <li><span class="parameter">flags_valid</span>
            <span class="types"><span class="type">tab</span></span>
         (optional) flags that are valid, either list or hashtable.
 If not given, everything
 will be accepted(everything in <code>flags_with_values</code> will automatically be allowed)
        </li>
    </ul>

    <h3>Returns:</h3>
    <ol>
        <li>
        a table of flags (flag=value pairs)</li>
        <li>
        an array of parameters</li>
    </ol>

    <h3>Raises:</h3>
    if args is nil, then the global <code>args</code> must be available!


    <h3>Usage:</h3>
    <ul>
        <pre class="example"><span class="comment">-- Simple form:
</span><span class="keyword">local</span> flags, params = app.parse_args(<span class="keyword">nil</span>,
     { <span class="string">"hello"</span>, <span class="string">"world"</span> },  <span class="comment">-- list of flags taking values
</span>     { <span class="string">"l"</span>, <span class="string">"a"</span>, <span class="string">"b"</span>})      <span class="comment">-- list of allowed flags (value ones will be added)
</span>
<span class="comment">-- More complex example using aliasses:
</span><span class="keyword">local</span> valid = {
    long = <span class="string">"l"</span>,           <span class="comment">-- if 'l' is specified, it is reported as 'long'
</span>    new = { <span class="string">"n"</span>, <span class="string">"old"</span> }, <span class="comment">-- here both 'n' and 'old' will go into 'new'
</span>}
<span class="keyword">local</span> values = {
    <span class="string">"value"</span>,   <span class="comment">-- will automatically be added to the allowed set of flags
</span>    <span class="string">"new"</span>,     <span class="comment">-- will mark 'n' and 'old' as requiring a value as well
</span>}
<span class="keyword">local</span> flags, params = app.parse_args(<span class="keyword">nil</span>, values, valid)

<span class="comment">-- command:  myapp.lua -l --old:hello --value world param1 param2
</span><span class="comment">-- will yield:
</span>flags = {
    long = <span class="keyword">true</span>,     <span class="comment">-- input from 'l'
</span>    new = <span class="string">"hello"</span>,   <span class="comment">-- input from 'old'
</span>    value = <span class="string">"world"</span>, <span class="comment">-- allowed because it was in 'values', note: space separated!
</span>}
params = {
    [<span class="number">1</span>] = <span class="string">"param1"</span>
    [<span class="number">2</span>] = <span class="string">"param2"</span>
}</pre>
    </ul>

</dd>
</dl>


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